Embracing the Art of Cultural Nuance
Before streaming changed the way we listen to music, our local radio stations programmed music according to regional favorites and demographic like average listener age, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and geographic locations. With the onset of streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music, cultural relevance plays a large role in catering to multilingual audiences.
While many professional translation services emphasize how accurate translation is vital to achieving goals of global reach, the product localization team at Spotify show translation is only one component of how localization helps provide content to multilingual audiences.
The process plays a key role in the design elements on Spotify’s platform. While considerations are made for how translated words may appear on buttons (for instance, the word "Settings" translated into Spanish is “Configuracion” which requires more space on the button) design choices of colors are also considered.
For example, as Spotify’s Diwali playlist found more engagement when it switched its darker colored design theme to a lighter toned concept that better aligned with the themes of Diwali, also called, the Festival of Lights.
The design team practice intentionality by considering how a concept may be interpreted by someone outside of our culture. Nora Ahlenius from Spotify’s Editorial Design Team explains:
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“The images that visually communicate emotions are not the same worldwide. What some people perceive as social norms may not be viewed that way by people from other cultures.”
She explains the approach used to apply the culturally appropriate images that might accompany a playlist of “seductive” songs. While a suggestive image featuring a couple locked in a passionate embracing may fit into Western norms, an approach centering love with a more subdued image of a man and woman holding hands is more socially acceptable in religiously conservative markets like the Middle East.
In their strategy, the media giant aims to make the platform feel personalized. Media providers should want their users across the globe to feel included on their platforms.
With the ever-growing field of global music platform choices, localization in music helps diverse audiences enjoy personalized experiences catering to their unique cultural preferences and languages.